The Fifth Waterflower
by AlotAAML
Summary: Ash, Misty, and Fern, her long lost sister, can trust no one as it seems that everyone in the world put their lives in jeopardy. Can they even trust each other? A spiraling staircase of violent attacks ravage Ash, Misty, and friends as they try to fight to prevent the destruction of humanity. In this story about conspiracy and love, everyone is the enemy. Including your loved ones.


**ACT 1**

11:00 PM

11 YEARS AGO ON CHRISTMAS EVE

CRUISE SHIP SOMEWHERE AT THE COAST OF KANTO

* * *

"Are they sleeping?"

"Yeah... yeah I think they are."

Ash's father sighed with relaxation and reclined on his chair. He was holding the hand of his wife, Delia Ketchum and stared at a window that was leading to another room.

"Man am I glad that your son was lucky enough not to look like you, Joseph," a man with orange hair sitting across from Joseph and Delia Ketchum said. He was also holding onto the hand of his wife, a beautiful woman with orange hair.

"And I am also glad that your daughters don't look like you too, Brandon."

The two stared at each other and eventually broke into laughter. The two women, who were the wives of each respective man, both sighed.

"Sometimes I don't get men," Delia said.

"Same here," Michelle Waterflower responded.

The parents looked at the window and observed five year olds Ash and Misty, who were sitting next to each other on the couch, sleeping. Misty quietly yawned and scooched closer to Ash and leaned on his shoulder. They both continued to sleep.

The adults couldn't help but smile and the observed a third person in the room. A fourteen year old girl that looked identical to Misty, just with longer hair, was sitting on another couch adjacent to the kids. She was keeping a close eye on them but was slowly dozing off the sleep, always waking herself up when she leaned her head forward.

Misty's mother sighed with content, "I am so glad we have such a dedicated daughter like Fern. She's always looking over Misty. I hope our other daughters back at Cerulean would treat Misty the same way as Fern."

"You know that's impossible," Brandon Waterflower said as he pecked a kiss to his wife, "Daisy, Violet, and Lily are too much like you."

Michelle Waterflower smacked Brandon in the face.

The Ketchums laughed and also kissed each other.

"We are all such a happy family," Joseph Ketchum said, "Brandon and Michelle, Delia and me, we are all family too."

"Oh Arceus here we go again," Brandon said as he rolled his eyes. Delia and Michelle started giggling and Joseph looked confused.

"Am I missing something?" He asked.

Everyone except for him started laughing. "I sure hope Ash won't be as dense as you, Joseph!" Brandon laughed.

The contained laughters died down after some time and Delia looked at the clock.

"I think it's time to sleep now," she said.

Michelle nodded and tapped on the window. Fern jerked her head up and stared curiously at her mother. Michelle mouthed "Go to sleep, honey."

Fern looked concerned and stared at Ash and Misty.

"They will be fine, we aren't in a war zone," her mother joked.

* * *

4 HOURS LATER

The large, deathly sound of an emergency siren rang throughout the cruise ship and Fern woke up, startled. Her first reaction was to wake up Ash and Misty. The room was flashing red and the siren was growing louder and scarier. Ash and Misty immediately woke up and looked around in frenzy.

"What's going on?" Ash asked, rubbing his eyes.

Misty put her hands over her ears, "The sound is so loud! Fern, what's wrong?!"

"Pirates are here aren't they? I saw this on TV once!" Ash shouted.

[i] Why would they show that to kids on TV? [i] Ferned asked herself.

Although panicked, Fern gently but firmly put her hands on both of the toddlers' shoulders, "I want you two to stay calm, I'm going to get both Mommy and Daddy to bring people here to help us, I just need you two to stay calm, for you guys and for me too."

Misty stared worriedly at her sister with innocent but unstable eyes. She was slowly going to shake her head to say no but Ash grabbed her hand.

"We will," Ash said. His face was full of determination.

Fern smiled and hugged them.

"Now go sit on the couch, use the pillows over at the couch to cover your ears just in case any loud noises come."

The two nodded their heads and did as they were told. Ash had trouble and grunted while climbing up seats of the couch, which was about the same height as him and turned back to face Misty. He held out his hand as if he was on top of a cliff to grab someone and reached out to Misty to help her up the couch. She grabbed his hand as he pulled her up, both grunting from the hard work.

As soon as she saw them up on the couch, Fern turned to look through the window of their parents' room. There were signs of struggle because of the knocked over plants and tables and the burn marks of Pokemon moves. The door was busted open and the carpet showed drag marks as if someone forcefully dragged another person. No one was there. A cold chill of panic rushed through Fern's spine all the way to her neck and a knot formed in her stomach. She turned to see the kids, who were eager to hear the news.

There was a lump in Fern's throat as she uttered a small, frail sentence to the kids, "We... we're on our own..."

The toddlers froze as they stared on.

"What do you mean we're on our own? What about Mommy and Daddy?" Ash asked, spurting the question out of his mouth.

"Sorry Ash, Mommy and Daddy aren't... aren't here right now."

As soon as Fern saw the despair in Ash's eyes, she added, "Don't worry guys, they are probably up on the deck of the boat with the others, we are just on our own... for now." Fern desperately wished for those words to be true but judging from the room adjacent to theirs, her hope wouldn't be true. She helped the two down the couch and went for the door. She turned the handle but the door wouldn't budge.

Shit, no this can't be happening, this can't be happening! Fern thought as the familiar feel of sudden panic occupied her again. She banged her hands on the door and groaned. She leaned her head against the door.

"No no no no, this can't... it can't be happening..." She turned and saw the kids behind her, sharing the feeling of worry.

Be strong, Fern, Mom and Dad gave you the responsibility of taking care of your baby sister and her friend, you have to look strong in front of them, don't let them down.

"It's alright guys, we only have a small problem," She looked around the room to find any means of escape.

"It sure doesn't sound like it's a small problem," Ash groaned, putting both hands on his head in frustration.

Fern sighed at the statement, she couldn't even get two five year olds out of a simple room. Wait, simple room. A simple room means... doors, furniture and... windows! That's it!

Fern saw a large window next to the door that faced the hallway. She searched for anything to break the window with.

"Help me find something to break this window with," Fern asked to apparent no one as she looked around.

Ash went to work and Misty stood idly, speechless. She was nervously rubbing her her hair and fiddling with her fingers. Fern noticed Misty and approached her, kneeling down to talk to her.

"Misty, what's wrong? You haven't spoken for the whole time we were here."

Misty looked away, "I'm just worried... about Mommy and Daddy, and Ash's Mommy and Daddy."

Fern closed her eyes and sighed. She then smiled, "Look at my baby sister, feeling responsible for others' safety," she rubbed Misty's hair, "That's my job, baby sister, and promise me that you will talk, no matter what happens, you need to still have the will to talk."

"Okay."

"No, promise me."

Misty stared at Fern for a long time, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. She opened her mouth to say something.

"GUYS!" Ash shouted.

Misty and Fern immediately turned to see him. Ash had a proud little grin on his face as he was pointing at a fire extinguisher.

"I'll go get it," he said as he ran to the fire extinguisher. He gripped the handles of the fire extinguisher with both hands and grunted as he tried to pick the extinguisher up. He tried walking backwards while dragging the extinguisher but the extinguisher fell in front of him.

Fern smiled and went to pick up the fire extinguisher. She patted Ash's head.

"Thanks little buddy," She said as she picked up the extinguisher. She headed for the window and threw the heavy object towards the window, collapsing it to dull, broad pieces. The debris of the shatter-proof window fell downwards and landed on the ground.

"Alright, I'll go first," Fern said as she worked her way through the window, "Don't worry, the pieces aren't sharp." She extended her arm out to help Ash and Misty out the window.

"Alright, now you have to grab each other's hands and follow me closely," Fern commanded.

Ash quickly grabbed Misty's hand firmly and nodded his head with confidence. His eyebrows were creased with determination.

Fern, after confirming that the two knew what they were doing, nodded back to Ash and walked through the hallway to get to the stairs on the end. The steam pipes running along the ceiling of the hallway were spewing and erupting with steam and fire. Sparks were showering down from the ceiling welding lights and bouncing off the ground before disappearing. The three were working their way across the long strip, going over or under fallen debris and obstacles. There were bullet holes running along the left side of the wall while on the right side, which faced the sea, had either untouched or broken windows. Ash, while following Fern, looked towards an unbroken window, staring at the small assault boats approaching the ship he is in. He was so fixated at looking at the invading vessels that he stopped following Fern. Misty was still in Ash's grasp.

"Ash, we have to move!" Misty squeaked, staring at Fern, who was still heading for the stairs.

Suddenly the window that Ash was staring from exploded from the hail of bullets, barely missing him and Misty. The shards of glass flew and cut Ash's cheeks and he fell backwards from the sudden impact. Fern stopped and looked behind her in horror as the children she loved and was responsible were being shot at. Misty stood still behind the open window, so shocked that she couldn't move. Her eyes were dull and shrouded with fear. Fern ran and threw herself onto Misty to keep her down. Ash was grabbing onto his face, crying. The barrage of bullets suddenly halted but Fern still stayed down with the toddlers to make sure. After the coast seemed clear, she crawled to Ash and tried prying his hands off of his face.

"Ash, you have to let me see your face! Ash!"

Ash slowly obeyed and started to bring his hands away from his face. The second he did, he felt the cool, sharp air sting his cut wounds and he started to shout, shooting his hands back to his face to cover it. Fern grabbed his hands and forced it down.

"Ash, you have to stay calm, I need to see if you hurt anything major," Fern demanded, beads of sweat trickling down the side of her face. There were cuts on both of Ash's cheeks with blood streaming down but already drying. There were no serious wounds but it was obvious that his cheeks would be scarred for the rest of his life.

Fern sighed with relief that Ash didn't go blind or had a piece of shrapnel go into his skull. She looked up and saw Misty, who had a pink handkerchief in her hands. She observed Misty as the five year old kneeled down on her knees and started wiping the blood from Ash's face. When Ash's face looked clean enough, Fern stood up.

"We have to go, now."

Misty helped Ash up, who was still sniffling and hiccuping from crying. He was trying to wipe his nose without having his sleeve from touching his cheeks.

They finally reached the stairs and started climbing up. At the deck of the ship, Fern saw hundreds of people all huddled up in the center, some crying and others looking at each other in concern. There were men circumferencing the people and were wearing bulletproof vests and parkas with guns in their hands. The Pokemon next to them had vests with an insignia of the letter G. The arcanines, mightyenas, and absols were all growling and barking at the frightened circle of victims.

"WHERE'S MY BABY!" A woman shouted through tears. The armed man next to her pointed his gun to her.

"Shut up lady!" He commanded.

"BUT SHE'S JUST TWO!" The woman begged.

The man swung his gun at her face. There was a sound of bones cracking and she immediately fell down to the ground.

"Marissa!" An older man who might have been her husband shouted. He glared at the armed soldier and cursed all kinds of explicit words to him.

The soldier shot down the man while laughing.

Fern looked on in horror, her eyes unable to leave the scene. Suddenly, a man with tactical glasses and a brown parka appeared in front of her, brandishing his gun.

"GET UP FROM THE STAIRS AND SIT ON THE GROUND!" He growled. The man grabbed Fern by her hair and threw her to the ground.

"FERN!" Misty shouted, running up the stairs to go to her sister.

"Wait Misty!" Ash shouted, following her.

The soldier noticed the children and had an evil grin on his face.

"More victims I see," he said. "Hey kids! Go bring your sister or whoever she is to the group of people!"

Ash and Misty froze when the man talked to them.

"WELL AREN'T YOU GOING OR NOT!" He shouted, shooting his gun in the air.

Fern slowly got up and the children ran to her. She embraced the toddlers and quickly escorted them to the circle of people. When they made their way to the cluster, people were crying and pushing and shoving each other. Misty saw the dead couple and started crying. Fern hugged her and whispered, "Shh shh shh, I got you, it's going to be okay, Misty."

Ash was staring blankly towards the sea. There were floating bodies on the sea and fire raging. He slowly touched his cheeks, which were bleeding again from his re-opened wounds.

Fern, while still hugging Misty, raised her head to look at the deck of the ship. She saw two very familiar figures and immediately her heart dropped. She put Misty to the side and ran towards them. A guard near her shoved her down and pointed his gun at her.

"DON'T MOVE OR I WILL SHOOT YOU!" He shouted.

Fern, on the floor, slowly propped herself finally noticed who the two figures were. They were her parents. Fern stared at the man who was aimed at her and quickly, without judgement, pushed him to the ground and sprinted to her parents.

"MOM! DAD!" She shouted with tears in her eyes. Being a teenager, she still needed her parents. She had the urge to embrace them tightly and cry into their shoulders while whispering that she loved them. The soldier she pushed down stood back up and shot her in the back. Fern collapsed face first to the ground and couldn't comprehend the pain she felt. All she could do was tighten her fists and twitch around the ground. She had a gurgled shout as blood filled her mouth and trickled down her lips.

Two guards ran up to Fern and looped their arms around her shoulders and propped her up. The way her shoulders were held sharpened the pain on her back and she started shouting and crying with tears of pain and sadness. She formed goosebumps and could hear her own heartbeat. Cold sweat were forming around her forehead and her tears blurred her vision. The men around her parents tied cinder blocks around their ankles. Her parents were holding each others hands, already accepting their inevitable fate. They looked at Fern. "We love you Fern, take care of Misty for us."

They wore sad smiles on their face and tears were forming around her mother's eyes. Suddenly, Fern saw tears forming around her father's eyes as well, the first time she ever seen him cry. The soldiers pushed them off the edge of the deck.

All the way at the center of the deck, Misty witnessed it all.

"MOOOOOMMM! DAAAAADDD!" Misty shouted. A guard approached her and slapped her across the face. Misty fell to the ground, grabbing onto her cheek and crying.

"Shut the hell up kid!" He shouted, aiming down his sights on Misty.

Fern saw this and used her remaining energy to shove the two soldiers that were holding her away. She fell down and started crawling to Misty.

More guards approached Fern and and grouped around her, kicking her and shouting unfathomable curses. She went into a fetal position and covered her head with her hands trying to protect herself. Fern felt pain all over her body and she felt a blunt blow to the back of her head. Slowly, there was a buzzing noise that was gradually growing louder and the sound around herself sounded muffled. She had a hard time breathing and eventually blanked out. When her body loosened up due to her lack of consciousness, the guards grabbed Fern by her arms and legs and dragged her to a man with spiky red hair.

"FERN!" Misty shouted, running to her injured sister. Ash quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, a little too forcefully.

"Misty don't! The men with the guns, they are going to hurt you."

Misty fell to her knees and watched her sister through teary and clouded vision. She saw the guards harshly drop Fern in front of a man who looked to be the leader. The "leader" had spiky red hair with a bandana covering his mouth and was wearing aviators. He grabbed a rag from his pocket and tied it over Fern's eyes.

Misty couldn't handle the nervousness inside of her but couldn't cry. All she did was sit down and grab her knees. She could only let out whimpers and occasional yelps. Ash sat down next to her and hugged her. He noticed that he didn't find his parents and as if on cue, he whimpered as well. They couldn't bear to open their eyes and witness more of the situation.

The man with red hair grabbed a microphone and started speaking.

"Everyone listen, please," he said with a soft but powerful voice, "I am very sorry for the current event that I have placed onto you but just know that this isn't anything personal against you people. If it gives you men and women any comfort, I am doing this to save all of us." He cleared his throat and continued.

"Now if you all will be so generous, please stare at the dragonite in the sky. Including you too, soldiers."

The civilians and armed soldiers both looked up to see at a dragonite circling around the boat. It was holding a red orb. Ash and Misty still closed their eyes, hoping for it to all end.

Suddenly, the red orb glowed very brightly, blinding everyone except the leader. Even with their eyes closed, Ash and Misty could still see a orangish glow through their eyelids. Everyone who stared at the orb shouted and screamed, all falling to the ground. The night sky was full of anguish and despair.

**Pretty intense first chapter, right? There is more to come and I know I am the world's stupidest person for working on two stories at once but I think I can manage it. Please review for this chapter as I have taken a new approach to writing while working on this chapter. I want to see your feedback; it'll really help out a lot and make me feel good :)**

**I hope you guys have a good night and stay tuned for more chapters to come.**


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